Stormbird Class
A Romulan development of the elderly D6A Kl'ar (Leader) Class Cruisers transferred to them during the Klingo-Romulan Alliance, the Stormbird has proven to be a rugged and powerful design, giving the Romulan Star Navy a tactical flexibility away from their classic hit and fade attacks. Development The original D6 design dates back to 2210, when elderly Cruiser designs were proving in dire need of replacement. A gradual refinement of a design that dated back to the 2150s, the D6 proved more than adequate against the opponents the Empire faced in the first two decades of the 23rd Century. In 2218 this situation changed. The Federation Hyperion Class USS Triton (NCC-866) made disastrous first contact with the Empire in the early months of that year. Chancellor Durak ordered reprisal raids against what as seen as an unprovoked violation of Klingon sovereignty. The initial raids were a disaster for the Empire, with three D4 K'ragth (Punisher) Class Light Cruisers being lost over the Federation colony at Aeolius VII without a single combat victory. New tactics were required and new warships needed. The D6 had not been part of the initial reprisal raids, being too short legged to be effective against targets in the Federation. The design proved sound in combat simulator trials with Federation starships, although the technological prowess of their designs closed the tactical gap somewhat. In 2234, the D6 was refitted to the new D6A Kl'ar (Leader) Class, equipped with better Disruptors, a more powerful warp core and other refinements to keep pace with Federation (and by this point, Romulan) designs being encountered. By 2242 however, the strategic situation had changed further. A new design, the now famous D7 qItI'tinga' (Great Powerful Conqueror) Class, entered service to replace the D6A, although she soldiered on in quieter sectors and in various support roles. Several D6As took part in the abortive attacks of 2244, 2246 and most infamously the Battle of Bernard in 2248. Although these failures could not be attributed to any design flaw or weakness in the D6A, faith in the design was shaken. In 2250, as part of the Klingo-Romulan Alliance‏‎, 2/3rds of the remaining D6As in service were transferred to the Romulan Star Empire. The Star Empire was at the time, unsure what use to make of these Cruisers. RSN tactics of the time revolved around devastating Alpha Strikes with CFDICs and Fusion-tipped missiles. For the time being, the D6As were placed into storage, with some being examined as part of a fledging Romulan M/AM project. The time of the Romulan D6A came in 2267. After the inconclusive result of the Neutral Zone Incident, the D6As in Romulan ownership were ushered quickly into service, with an unfortunate result. Given a minor refit to carry a Romulan-Type Cloaking Device, three of the first ships reactivated were part of the Enterprise Incident. During this incident, the Federation stole one of these Cloaking Devices. Later that year, political entanglements brought the Star Empire (alongside her Klingon allies) into conflict with the Federation during the 4-Day War. Romulan D6As were deployed to the front, although failed to arrive before the close of hostilities. The RSN fought that particular war with older Cricket and Capsize Class warships. These incidents proved to the Senate that the Star Empire could no longer stay isolated from galactic affairs, and that the Romulan Star Navy badly needed investment to stay competitive. A native Romulan shipbuilding programme, known as the Ornith Series was embarked on, but at the same time it was understood that despite concerns about becoming dependent on Klingon technology, the KR Series warships in RSN could not simply be allowed to rust. The best technology from them should be reverse engineered, and new, Romulan-designed systems put in place of systems deemed inferior. The D6A was at the forefront of this effort, and in 2269 the first of the new Stormbird Class refits debuted. It is believed that the Stormbird entering into service, ostensibly based on an obsolete design, shocked the Klingon Empire to the point that their own refit programmes were accelerated. In this way, whilst the Stormbird is often considered to be a "Romulan K'T'Inga", the reality is that the qItI'tinga' is a "Klingon Stormbird". The Stormbird bore little resemblance to her D6A progenitor. Romulan designers had rebuilt her from the keel up, producing a Cruiser remarkably similar to the Klingon D7B qItI'tinga' (Great Powerful Conqueror) Class then in service, albeit with some reduction in overall firepower; The Star Empire did not yet have a weapon to match the Photon Torpedo in versatility, and as the Plasma Torpedo was at the time too energy hungry to fit to the Stormbird, the first iteration of this design featured the Cohesive Fused Deuterium Irradiation Cannon, a staple of Romulan Heavy Weaponry since the Earth-Romulan War. An interesting aside to the story of the Stormbird is that of the Peregrine Class. This class was a hybrid of the Stormbird and her counterpart, the Centurion Class, introduced in the late 2280s to fill the role of a Torpedo Cruiser (See Peregrine Class for more details) Operational History In the first few years of her service, the Stormbird saw little action. Tensions along the Romulan-Federation Neutral Zone were high, but neither side dared to violate the treaty. On the other side of the Star Empire, the Gorn frontier was quiet, although again tensions were bubbling. The combat debut of the Stormbird came with the 4th Gorn-Romulan War of 2282. By this time, several Stormbirds had had their CFDICs replaced with the new Type L Plasma Torpedo. This new refined version of the Plasma Torpedo used far less power than the original and could be fired much more rapidly, a perfect weapon for the Stormbird both in terms of power requirements and tactics employed. In this upgraded form, the Stormbird was very successful against the forces of the Gorn Royal Navy, although it was mentioned by many Captains that the Stormbird had sufficient power reserves for a more powerful weapon, or the same Light Plasma/CFDIC combination as the Gladius Class Frigate. Plans to refit the Stormbird in this manner were shelved in 2284 after the outbreak of the 5th Gorn-Romulan War. A short-lived conflict, the most notable outcome was the capture of a Gorn research station. This lead to a breakthrough in the understanding of Plasma generation. The Gorns also employed Plasma Torpedoes, but their method of generating and stabilising a charge was considerably different to Romulan techniques. This new understanding lead to the development of the Medium Plasma Torpedo, or Type M. This type took slightly longer to recharge than the Type L, but had twice the yield of the lighter weapon, and required only 25% more power. This made the Type M the perfect weapon for Romulan Cruisers, and the Stormbird was amongst the first to be refit with the new torpedo. Although subsequently outgunned by the Centurion Class (herself a refit and downgraded Battlecruiser) the Stormbird remained a powerful tool in the Star Navy's arsenal through the Organian Conflict, and her superior manoeuvrability gave her the edge over her better armed counterpart during the War of Pacification against the Interstellar Concordium. Although beginning to be phased-out by the General War in 2292 in favour of new designs such as the mighty Senator Class, the Stormbird valiantly defended the Star Empire during that conflict, renewing the Star Navy's age-old rivalry with the Gorn Royal Navy. Apocrypha After her involvement in the Praxis Incident of 2293 was revealed, the Romulan Star Empire began to once again withdraw behind her borders, withdrawing from galactic affairs again all together in the aftermath of the Tomed Incident in 2311. Even before this time, Romulan tactics had begun to turn away from fleet engagements and back to single "lone wolf" warships, now of a gargantuan size dwarfing the Crickets and Capsize Classes of old. The Stormbird had already faced replacement in the 2290s with the new Senator Class, and by the early 2300s she (along with most other KR Series designs ) had been withdrawn. Specifications * Class: 'Heavy Cruiser * 'Hull Type Designation: '''RCKA * '''Length: 244m * Crew: 340 * Warp Nacelles: '''2 * '''Maximum Sublight Speed: 3300 k/s (33 Mk/s) * Cruise Warp Factor Speed: wf 7.5 * Safe Maximum Warp Factor Speed: wf 9.1 * Hull Rating: '240 HSF * 'Shield Rating: 300 FSP * Sensor Rating: 1000 SRU * Armament and Equipment: ** Primary *** 4 × Disruptor Cannon ** Secondary *** 1 × Type M Plasma Torpedo Tube ** Heavy *** None ** Advanced *** None ** Equipment *** Tractor Beam Emitter *** Romulan-Type Cloaking Device *** Probes Ships in Service (2292) RSE Stormbird RSE Albintian RSE Annelalvnis RSE Antvsivs RSE Arredvs RSE Asteivs RSE Attebrivs RSE Avrinivs RSE Aveleivs RSE Cibvs RSE Caer RSE Capoccivs RSE Carminia RSE Celvantivs RSE Cetvmivs RSE Cilia RSE Clinia RSE Coconotivs RSE Coselivs RSE Cridencivs RSE Dessonvs RSE Dionvstivs RSE Daeen RSE Dederax RSE Diabolvs RSE Deespera RSE Deloraen RSE Delzel RSE Detaeraes RSE Mactabilis Category:Romulan Vessels Category:Cruisers Category:Heavy Cruisers